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Dan Cormier
Dan Cormier is the current UFC light-heavyweight champion and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion. Strikeforce To The UFC He most recently fought Soa Palalei, defeating the jiu jitsu ace via first-round TKO. He was next set to face undefeated prospect Shane Del Rosario in Strikeforce. Unfortunately Del Rosario was injured. Mixed martial arts veteran and Strikeforce newcomer Jeff Monson stepped in. Cormier defeated Monson via dominant unanimous decision. He next replaced Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in the semifinals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix. His opponent would be Antonio Silva. Cormier defeated Silva via shocking first round upset knockout to advance to the finals and the Top 5 heavyweight rankings. Cormier would face former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett in the finals. Unfortunately he broke his hand in the victory over "Bigfoot" Silva, and the final round of the grand prix was left in question. After recovering, Cormier finally faced Barnett dominating him for five rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory. Unfortunately Cormier reinjured his hand in the victory. He was next set to welcome former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in October 2012 to Strikeforce but the fight was called off for whatever reason. He instead signed to face Dion Staring at Strikeforce's last show in January 2013. At the same time he signed a UFC contract in the last days of December 2012. Despite showing personal respect to Staring, Cormier came into the fight as a 20-to-1 favorite on the oddsmakers' table. Cormier dominated Staring utterly en route to a second round technical knockout in front of a hometown crowd. Finally in the UFC Cormier next called out former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir to make his UFC debut on April 20th in San Jose. After that, he said, he would "let Jon Jones defend his title on April 27th and then kick his ass in the fall." Cormier made his debut against Mir winning a comfortable if boring unanimous decision. After a period of indecision between 265 and 205 pound divisions, Cormier signed to fight Roy Nelson in a bizarre move as Nelson had just lost to relative unknown Stipe Miocic. The fight was apparently a grudge match after Nelson called Cormier an "Uncle Tom." Cormier dominated Nelson en route to a methodical but less-than-exciting unanimous decision. Drop to 205 The fight would be Cormier's last at heavyweight as he stated his intentions to cut to light-heavyweight to avoid fighting his teammate UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. He would make a run at UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Cormier was set to make his debut at 205 pounds against former UFC light-heavyweight champion and fellow UFC Fox Sports analyst Rashad Evans at UFC 170 in February 2014. Unfortunately Evans suffered a leg injury ten days before the bout and it was postponed and possibly cancelled altogether. The fight was indeed rescheduled for April 2014. Instead undefeated newcomer and former Cormier training partner Patrick Cummins stepped in on less than ten days' notice. Cormier effortlessly dispatched Cummins in around one minute. Cormier was next rumored to fight former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champions Rafael Cavalcante or Dan Henderson. Cormier did end up fighting Henderson, dominating the veteran en route to a third round rear-naked choke submission victory. Light-heavyweight title shot Cormier next stepped in to replace injured Alexander Gustafsson against UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones. At a promotional event Jones got in Cormier's face and Cormier shoved him awaay prompting Jones to attack Cormier. After the brief brawl the anticipation for the fight ramped up. Unfortunately Jones was injured and the fight was postponed to early January 2015. The anticipation only grew up until then. Jones handed Cormier his first loss via a hard-fought and grueling unanimous decision. Next Title Run Cormier next signed to fight contender Ryan Bader. The fight didn't take place, however, as a month or two before it was set to take place fate struck. Jon Jones was involved in a hit-and-run accident in late April 2015 in which a pregnant woman was seriously injured. Jones was then stripped of his light-heavyweight title the next day and suspended indefinitely by the UFC. Cormier would fight Jones' original opponent Anthony Johnson for the vacated title as scheduled at UFC 187 in May. Cormier persevered through adversity en route to submitting Johnson via rear-naked choke in the third round. With the victory Cormier became the twelfth UFC light-heavyweight champion and immediately called out rival Jon Jones. Champ Cormier next defended his title instead against Alexander Gustafsson, defeating Gustafsson via split decision after a bloody war for the ages. Cormier would next defend his title against the returning Jones but unfortunately he was injured and replaced by Ovince St. Preux. St. Preux would fight Jones for the interim title. Jones of course won and a unification bout was set up between Jones and Cormier for the landmark UFC 200 event. The UFC 200 Mayhem Three days before the event Jones tested positive for multiple PEDs and was pulled from the fight. Cormier was outspokenly heartbroken about the loss of his opportunity to avenge the loss not to mention the millions of dollars he would lose. Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva offered to step in on two days' notice to fight Cormier and the UFC accepted, setting up the fight as a three-round light-heavyweight fight on the landmark event. Cormier dominated Silva completely en route to an unentertaining but decisive unanimous decision. Cormier next signed to defend his title for the second time in a rematch against Anthony Johnson. Fights *Daniel Cormier vs. Jeff Monson - Jeff Monson was a replacement for an injured Shane Del Rosario. *Daniel Cormier vs. Antonio Silva - The fight was in the semifinals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix. Dan Cormier was a replacement for Alistair Overeem. Cormier suffered a broken hand after landing the first right hand of the fight. *Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring *Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier - The fight was for the UFC light-heavyweight title with Jon Jones defending. The fight was Cormier's first loss. *Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson - The fight was for the vacant UFC light-heavyweight title. *Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson - The fight was for the UFC light-heavyweight title with Cormier defending. *Daniel Cormier vs. Anderson Silva - Anderson Silva stepped in on TWO DAYS' NOTICE to replace the troubled Jon Jones. Category:Heavyweight fighters Category:Light-heavyweight fighters Category:UFC light-heavyweight champions